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The original Bowie No. 2 Mine permit application indicated that mining would be conducted using the <br />room and pillar mining method. Permit Revision No. 3 changed the mining method to longwall mining <br />but kept the rate of production at two million tons per year. Approval of Permit Revision No. 3 increased <br />maximum mine production to five million tons per year. Approval of Permit Revision No. 6 increased <br />coal production to 6 million tons per year. Approval of Permit Revision No. 7 permitted the construction <br />of portals and facilities to mine the B-2 coal seam. The five year B-2 coal seam mine plan was approved <br />through Permit Revision No. 8. Current mining is in the B-2 coal seam. Approval of PR-11 will add 560 <br />acres to the northern boundary of the permit area, extend the B-seam mine plan to the north and reorient <br />the longwall panels to a north-south orientation. Detailed information regarding the Bowie No. 2 Mine <br />and BRL is located in the ten (10) binders which comprise the Bowie No. 2 Mine permit application <br />document. <br />Land Use and Cultural and Historic Resource Information - <br />Detailed information regarding land uses and cultural and historic resources within the Bowie No. 2 Mine <br />permit area is provided in Sections 2.04.3 and 2.04.4 of the permit application document. A brief <br />summary is provided below, and this summary is derived from the information presented within Sections <br />2.04.3 and 2.04.4 of the permit application document. <br />The Bowie No. 2 Mine permit and adjacent area includes a mix of land uses. The lower elevation areas <br />are used for pasture, orchards, residential and industrial uses. Approval of Permit Revision No. 6 added <br />hayland to the list of permit area land uses. Agricultural uses are served by irrigation water. The higher <br />elevations within and adjacent to the permit area support some rangeland use, and the areas offer <br />abundant wildlife habitat. The lands also support various recreational uses. <br />Historic and current mining operations also exist in the general area. The Bowie No. 1 Mine is located <br />west of the Bowie No. 2 Mine permit area. The Terror Creek Loadout is located to the south of the Bowie <br />No. 2 Mine permit area. The reclaimed Blue Ribbon Mine is also located nearby along Hubbard Creek, as <br />are outlying facilities associated with the Sanborn Creek Mine. Historic coal mines located within and <br />adjacent to the Bowie No. 2 permit boundary include the King Mine, the Gelwick Mine, the old Blue <br />Ribbon Mine and the Farmers' Mine. The old townsite of Bowie is located within the Bowie No. 2 permit <br />area. There are no known historical sites that are eligible to the National Register in the areas to be <br />disturbed under Permit Revision No. 6. Three historic sites, not associated with important persons or <br />events in history and not eligible to the National Register, were determined by the CHS to not have much <br />integrity due to deterioration and alteration. As requested by the Colorado Historical Society, BRL has <br />committed to stop construction and evaluate the situation appropriately, in consultation with the Colorado <br />Historical Society, if previously unknown cultural resources should be discovered. <br />Geology - <br />Detailed information regarding the geology in and adjacent to the Bowie No. 2 Mine permit area is <br />provided in Sections 2.04.5 and 2.04.6 of the permit application document. A brief summary is provided <br />below, and this summary is derived from the information presented within Sections 2.04.5 and 2.04.6 of <br />the permit application. <br />The Bowie No. 2 Mine permit area is located in the North Fork Valley of the Gunnison River, near the <br />western margin of the Colorado portion of the Central Rocky Mountains. The elevation of the permit area <br />ranges from about 6,000 feet above sea level to over 8,000 feet above sea level. The general area is <br />situated along the southern flank of the Piceance Creek structural and sedimentary basin. The area is <br />13